SARGSYAN SHOULDN’T HAVE LEFT FOR MUNICH
4/vahanhovhannisian
24/11/09
"The Armenian side had to refuse to meet in Munich after Aliyev’s
bellicose statements and that would be the right step to take," head of
the ARF faction Vahan Hovhannisyan told "A1+" and mentioned that unlike
previous statements, Aliyev’s current statement recalled an ultimatum.
"It is totally wrong to negotiate under the pressure of an ultimatum.
After that statement, the Armenian side had to address the
intermediaries, telling them to either pull the Azeri president
back or that Armenia no longer sees the need to negotiate in these
conditions. Since they haven’t done that, there are contradicting
statements, including "EuroNews", the denial of the Armenian side
and releases on Azeri websites."
Vahan Hovhannisyan is certain that everything is being done to
make Armenia compromise and facilitate the ratification of the
Turkey-Armenia Protocols in the Turkish parliament.
"Armenia is currently in a trap and it had to get out of that trap
a year ago, but it is still possible now. It will be more difficult,
but possible," he said.
Vahan Hovhannisyan also remarked that by participating in the meeting
in Munich after Aliyev’s statements, the Armenian side apparently
underestimated the Meindorf declaration in which the sides had excluded
the military solution and which served as the best opportunity to
pull back from the negotiations, at least from that meeting.
As far as the counter-attack by the president’s press speaker Samvel
Farmanyan is concerned, according to which "Armenia may recognize
Karabakh’s independence", Vahan Hovhannisyan said: "That is only one
of the components of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The
more important components are international recognition, that is,
recognition or partial recognition by different international
organizations, or at least other countries. The other component,
which is more important, is to bring Karabakh back to the negotiating
table and that is the most important way of recognition. The easiest
is Armenia’s recognition of Karabakh’s independence."
"No matter when Karabakh is recognized, it can’t contribute to
Artsakh’s full integration in the negotiations. If Azerbaijan
attacks Artsakh, I believe that the first objective must be to
completely eliminate the Azeri aggressors on the battlefield, and
not recognition."
Vahan Hovhannisyan doesn’t believe in the Minsk Group Co-Chairs or
the Armenian side that claims that the issue of return of territories
has not been discussed. "I don’t believe that they have talked about
Karabakh’s status for four hours and the Azeri side has not raised
the issue of the return of territories."
Hovhannisyan added that there was a time when the Armenian side made a
tactical step that later turned into a strategic mistake. This refers
to the possible return of territories, which had to be discussed by
the consent of the Armenian side after determining the status. But
thanks to the consistent efforts of the Azeri, today the talks are
about the return of territories and then the prolonged referendum,
which is undetermined as to where and when it will be held and in
which format.